I thought it was supposed to be April Showers?

Ugh.

a bee on a stroll

Yesterday I encountered the strangest thing... a fluffy yellow bumblebee, walking its way through my garden. It was very deliberately hitting up each little tuft of creeping thyme currently inhabiting the path. I'm not sure if she was unable to fly, or if she just felt like taking the scenic route, but I'm choosing to believe it was the latter.

Here's the bee in question, on the 'road'...

...taking in some flower juice...

...and back on the move.

In the Yard - 5/4/11

All the perennials are coming along, but not too many blooms to be seen, except for these Hellebores that have been in bloom for at least a month now, I think...

...and the various tulips that are scattered around...

...and the window boxes that were just planted this weekend. Can't wait to see how this mish-mash of flowers grows up!

Time for Tulips

The veggie garden is officially underway!

I just came in from a full day working in the yard in some glorious spring weather. For a minute there I even thought I might get a sunburn! The new veggie bed is now fully fenced in with a simple chicken wire fence, compost has been worked into newly dug beds, paths have been mulched with saltwater hay, broccoli and brussels sprouts have been transplanted and peas, lettuce, arugula, carrots, spinach, beets, cilantro, dill and parsley have all been direct seeded. Building the fence wasn't part of today's work -- what kind of workhorse do you take me for? -- but it has been a long day nonetheless.

My camera with the decent wide angle lens is touring Europe right now, so here's what I could squeeze into one pic with my other camera:

Meanwhile, in the house, the tomatoes need to be transplanted to larger pots IMMEDIATELY but I am so pooped from being in the yard all day, that I think they might have to wait til tomorrow morning. This is why I am so bad at starting stuff inside. Oh well!

Far Far Away II baby quilt

My latest baby quilt creation is my favorite yet! This one is was done with Far Far Away II by Heather Ross, with Tangerine and Baby Blue Kona Solids to sash, bind and back.

I started off making 12 wonky nine patch blocks and thinking I'd just sash and stagger them in a standard way. But once I put sashing on a few of the blocks, I realized how much I loved them all lined up. So I went with it. In retrospect, I would do the sashing in long strips instead of short block sized strips, but I'm not much for ripping out and resewing when I can get away with being lazy.

For the back I just did a fussy cut of the owl & the pussycat scene with a tangerine frame. And for the quilting, I did a free motion rectangular meander. Many thanks to Oh, Fransson for the wonky block and quilting inspiration!






PS. It looks like there's plenty of Far Far Away II left at Hawthorne Threads (one of my fav online shops) if you want to stock up!

Northwest Edible Life: Backyard Orchard Culture: Too Good To Be True?

Awesomely inspiring blog post about growing fruit on a small scale. You'd better believe I will be giving this a shot in my backyard this year!

Northwest Edible Life: Backyard Orchard Culture: Too Good To Be True?: "I have struggled for a few years with a desire to have more fruit trees than my 1/3 acre lot can accomodate. A third-acre is actually pretty..."